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Second Life, a virtual world, has a booming population, economy(Copley News Service Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Second Life is a place where people and companies pay millions for exclusive real estate, designer clothes and luxury vehicles. Nothing is real, though, except for the money. In this online world, residents can create new, improved, digital versions of their lives. After selecting and customizing an on-screen persona, called an avatar, users can choose to become a tall, buff young man or a shapely woman. Some will select furry animals or feathery creatures to represent them "in-world." Ultimately, many learn to socialize with other avatars, build houses and fly around the digital landscape. Launched in 2003, Second Life appears to be the Internet's next big thing. Recently, it logged its millionth resident. The online service has features similar to "The Sims," the all-time best-selling computer game series. But it lacks any scorekeeping features. The closest Second Life comes to a running tally is its virtual currency, Linden Bucks. Players can make objects and sell them for Linden Bucks, which can then be redeemed for cybercars, clothes and houses. Perhaps most important, the virtual currency can be converted into U.S. dollars. The population and economy of Second Life have grown so massive that major corporations are paying attention. Companies such as Sony/BMG Music, Nissan and Toyota have converted marketing dollars to Linden Bucks to buy virtual real estate. Suzanne Vega performed "in world" in August, and Duran Duran has a concert scheduled for November. Big companies are poking and prodding the virtual landscape to see if there's something new going on here, some undiscovered potential. Sun Microsystems recently held a news conference in-world, requiring 60 reporters and analysts to create avatars to get the scoop. IBM, one of the earliest companies to join Second Life, has tried a number of ventures. In-world conferences and group presentations include real-world features not possible through teleconferencing. Media outlets Wired and Cnet have opened virtual offices, and Reuters news service announced that it would have a full-time "embedded" reporter covering the virtual news on a new Web site, www.secondlife.reuters.com. Lawmakers are also checking out the landscape. A congressional committee said it was investigating the tax implications of a virtual economy and its virtual assets and incomes. Second Life is a world in which residents literally make, buy and sell everything. Linden Labs, a privately held company in San Francisco, created and sold the virtual dirt, but all the trappings within the world have come from its inhabitants: from jewelry and T-shirts to houses, cars and shopping malls. Residents can pay $1,200 to more than $5,000 - in addition to substantial monthly maintenance fees - for a virtual island. The land mass of Second Life is growing at about 8 percent a month, a spokeswoman said, and now totals 60,000 acres. Linden also makes money by exchanging currency - around 250 Linden Bucks for $1. As evidence of its burgeoning economy, the Second Life Web site tracks how much money changes hands each day. It recently reached $500,000 a day and is growing as much as 15 percent a month. Residents who want to purchase real estate don't have to buy an entire island, and with a little effort, it's possible to hang out in the virtual world without ever spending a single cent. Signing up for a paid account earns residents a small, free parcel of land. Residents can develop those plots as starter homes, sell them and work their way up the virtual ladder of status. Philip Rosedale, founder and chief executive of Linden Labs, says the virtual world is a very real source of income for thousands of its residents. "There's a subset of people making money," Rosedale said. "It's clear that for hundreds of residents, this is a primary source of income. Tens of thousands of others are making money." For Rosedale, the son of a Navy pilot, the road to Linden Labs and Second Life started with the 1995 founding of FreeVue, a videoconferencing technology company. Real Networks acquired FreeVue in 1996, and Rosedale served as chief technology officer and vice president of the Silicon Valley company for three years. In 1999, he began the research that would become the technology behind Linden Labs. Rosedale said he has long envisioned a virtual world that improves upon real life, or what Second Life residents call RL. "I've always been interested in computer simulations," he said. "Why can't you have a digital version of the world that's a little bit better?" Second Life is often described as a game because it uses technology from and resembles what are known as MMORPGs, massively multiplayer online role-playing games, Rosedale said. "In the past, all 3-D, online immersive experiences have been games," Rosedale said. "Games have rules, point systems and content structured by game designers," he said. "Second Life has none of that. It's the exact opposite. It's completely free (of rules) and there's nothing to win. Unlike 'The Sims,' you don't have to make sure your character goes to the bathroom, showers or talks to friends." While Second Life is free of rules, there is a social code and a police blotter listing violations. Transgressions can result in expulsion. There is also some amount of real-world peer pressure. Nathan Hubbard, networking manager at video-sharing service vMix, said he is personally and professionally interested in Second Life. He and others at vMix are looking for a way to provide an in-world video service. "I went into a club (in Second Life) to check it out," he said. "I was just wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Everybody else was dressed up. I felt out of place. Of course, I've had that experience in real life. I'm a big geek." His avatar shares the first name of Nathan. He asked that the avatar's last name not be published because he doesn't go to Second Life to socialize. "I don't really go there to play," Hubbard said. "I'm more interested in the entrepreneurial opportunities." Linden Labs makes money from monthly subscriptions, land sales and maintenance fees paid by landowners. Subscriptions cost $9.95 a month and are necessary for anyone who wants to buy land. Land-use fees start at $5 a month and go as high as $790 for a large island. The company has about 3,500 servers, each responsible for 16 virtual acres, and is adding hundreds of servers each month, Rosedale said. Unlike the real world, the company can simply add real estate to keep pace with demand. Second Life's virtual economy is subject to some - but not all - real-world economic principles. Currency is monitored and controlled in order to avoid rampant inflation or recession and to stabilize the exchange rate. "We have the same complexities that any country does with its currency," said David Fleck, Linden Labs' vice president. "And we do the same thing they do: We control the money supply. We can't run around printing money like some Third World government. We do that by controlling subsidies." New residents who sign up with a credit card receive a small amount of money to get started - currently 250 Linden Bucks. In the past, the company has been more generous to fend off recession, but it is cutting back to fight inflation, Fleck said. "We have employees doing data mining to monitor financial trends within the world," he said. Almaden Island is IBM's official Second Life presence, but several employees have projects under way in the virtual world. The island takes its name from, and is run by researchers from, the company's Almaden Research Center in Silicon Valley. While there are plenty of Second Life chats filled with "OMG," "LOL" and other instant-messaging shorthand, you're unlikely to find them on IBM's island. The company is testing "serious games" concepts - the use of game technology for serious purposes, researcher Dave Kamalsky said. "It started out as a summer project, but it blossomed into bigger things," he said. Almaden Island has a lecture hall and smaller rooms where it holds conferences. "There are some real-world advantages," Kamalsky said. "With a large group, you can see someone stand up or walk to the podium, and you know they're going to speak next. "At the end of meetings, people stand around and chat in little groups, just like they would after a real-world meeting. That would never happen on a conference call." Visit Copley News Service at www.copleynews.com. Copyright 2006 Copley News Service |